Let Me Hear a Rhyme

Jasmine leads the boys to an electronics repair shop, where she knows a boy named Kenny. Kenny asks Jasmine why she hasn’t been coming to meetings. She claims she’s been busy but doesn’t reveal what sort of meetings Kenny’s referencing. Jasmine asks Kenny to make 100 copies of Steph’s CD, without revealing that it’s Steph’s music. Kenny agrees on the condition that Jasmine return to the meetings.

Jarrell leaves and Quady walks Jasmine home, asking what type of meetings Kenny was talking about. She changes the subject to Malcolm X. Quady is beginning to feel attracted to Jasmine, but tries to suppress his feelings because of Ronnie. Jasmine asks Quady if he knew Steph was selling crack; he says no. They both think it’s possible he wasn’t, but since he had a large quantity of it in his room, most people would assume he was.

Quadir doesn’t live in B-Voort projects, but in a nearby apartment building where the units are smaller. A coach from a prep school called Bishop has been talking to Quadir about possibly attending and playing basketball there. Quadir’s mom wants him to go, but he thinks it’s too expensive. His mom hasn’t had work in over a year, and scholarships may be available, but Quadir doesn’t want to leave his friends and girlfriend.

Jarrell walks up to Mack and some other boys, including DJ Cash, playing dice. He gives them all copies of Steph’s CD without revealing it’s Steph’s music. DJ Cash is excited to hear more of this music. Privately, Mack asks Jarrell if he’s thought about a discussion they had previously. Mack says Jarrell has potential and he only gave him “that shit” for protection. Dante appears and tells Mack that some other kids are creeping into his territory and Jarrell leaves.

Jarrell, Quadir, and Jasmine head to Fulton Street, where street vendors and shops sell goods. Jarrell and Quadir find a man selling CDs and ask him to sell Steph’s music. They play a song on the CD, and the man agrees to sell them for a cut. He says any future sales will depend on how it goes with the sale of what they’ve given him. Jasmine walks by and pretends she’s been hearing Steph’s songs at parties and is excited to buy the CD. The man claims he’s getting more of the Architect’s music in soon, so Jasmine should come back. The kids continue down Fulton Street, planning to also get more vendors to sell Steph’s CD.

Jasmine’s mom has returned to work but is also obsessed with deep cleaning the apartment. Jasmine asks how the police investigation of Steph’s murder is going, but Mom says they haven’t found anything new because it’s been less than a month since Steph died. Jasmine points out that it’s been two months. Mom still tells Jasmine to let the police handle it.

Jasmine goes to her room and Steph’s pager buzzes. She dials the number back. A voice that sounds like a grown man answers, asking if it’s Steph and where he is. Jasmine remains silent but wonders why Steph was talking to a grown man on a pager. She hangs up.

Ronnie’s birthday party is huge and elaborate, just like she wanted. They perform the dance routine, and Ronnie trips, but Quadir makes it look like it was his fault, so she won’t be embarrassed. At one point, he’s supposed to dip her, and he does, but not very low, so she doesn’t have a wardrobe malfunction. Jasmine’s also at the party because Ronnie’s grandma made her invite Jasmine. Ronnie complains about Jasmine’s natural hair; Quadir thinks this is “foul.” Ronnie bought Jasmine’s party dress because she says everyone knows Jasmine’s family doesn’t have any money. Ronnie says that her parents will be gone this coming weekend, and Quadir thinks about how this is their sign that they might have sex. Quadir thinks about how he’s not in the mood, and when Ronnie’s dad asks to dance with her, he moves away from her. Quadir talks to Jarrell and Jasmine, and they debrief and think they have enough songs for several more volumes if Steph keeps getting such positive attention.

Ronnie’s dad introduces a special guest, his friend Fast Pace. He wishes Ronnie a happy birthday, then briefly performs. When he leaves, Jarrell and Quadir follow him outside and split up. Quadir approaches the DJ while Jarrell approaches Fast Pace, each with a copy of Steph’s CD. The DJ takes the copy from Quadir because Quadir recognizes the DJ’s voice from the radio.

Later, Quadir can’t visit Ronnie after school as planned due to basketball practice. Ronnie argues that Quadir needs a cell phone and that if he’d work for Ronnie’s father, he’d be able to afford one. Quadir says he’s not okay with her dad’s business. Ronnie wants to know why Quadir’s being distant, but he won’t say. Quadir gets his new issue of Vibe and, in a section about new artists, Steph’s album is featured.

Steph’s pager continues buzzing. Kenny calls Jasmine to pressure her about the meetings: She needs to complete her initiation because she made a commitment and can’t quit. Jasmine then pages back a number and it’s Pierce Williams’s assistant from Red Starr Entertainment, a huge record label. They want to meet the Architect tomorrow night at a bar. Jasmine agrees.

Quadir and Jarrell use fake IDs to go to the bar to meet Pierce Williams and his assistant, Gordon Fletcher, known as Fletch. Jarrell tells Quadir that he should be careful about his crush on Jasmine because he has a girlfriend. Fletch sees the boys and assumes one of them is the Architect and he leads them to Pierce’s table. The boys tell Pierce that neither of them is the Architect and that he isn’t coming. This infuriates Pierce, but the boys claim that they’re the Architect’s managers. Pierce doesn’t believe them and he threatens to have them thrown out of the bar if they don’t leave immediately. They say the Architect had a family emergency, but he wanted to come. Pierce is still skeptical but agrees to give the boys a chance. He gives them a CD of songs and says the Architect needs to make a single by rapping over one of the beats within a week. He threatens to kill the boys if they mess up again.

The boys can’t believe that the public still doesn’t know who killed Biggie or even Tupac, who died earlier. With so many people around, someone must have seen something, but nobody’s saying anything. Biggie died in a crowded area after leaving a big party. Quadir thinks it’s a government conspiracy, trying to eradicate hip-hop stars before they become too powerful. Quadir and Steph think people who witnessed something should speak up, but Jarrell thinks this would be snitching, which in his opinion, is never justifiable. Steph knows his dad would disagree. Steph and Jarrell nearly fight but Quadir intervenes. Steph asks if Jarrell would tell him if he knew how his dad died. Jarrell says he would because that case is different since he and Steph are close friends. Steph argues that everyone is close to someone, and every murdered person deserves justice. Therefore, Jarrell’s attitude about snitching doesn’t make sense to Steph. However, he does understand why people would be hesitant to snitch because of their own families’ safety.

Quadir isn’t sure how they can make a new single, since Steph’s dead. He thinks maybe they should just tell Pierce the truth. Jarrell doesn’t want to tell the truth because they’ve already come this far. However, they can’t simply give Pierce an old song from Steph’s CDs; it has to be Steph’s voice rapping over one of the background beats on the CD Pierce provided. Jarrell says they can pay someone to put some of Steph’s old verses over one of Pierce’s chosen beats. They don’t know anyone with a studio, though. Dante appears and Jarrell asks if he knows any producers, because Dante seems to know everyone. He actually does know a producer named Kaven with a studio nearby on Pulaski Street. That’s where Steph’s body was found, so the boys are skeptical, but Dante says the studio is far away from where Steph was found.

Suddenly, three undercover police officers appear and assault them. The boys ask what this is about, and the police finally say they’re looking for Steph. The boys share that he’s dead, and question why the police don’t already know this since they’re investigating his murder. The cops leave, and the boys are confused.

Jasmine and her mom are still cleaning. Jasmine picks up her backpack to move it to her bedroom, but some of Steph’s CDs fall out. Her mom recognizes the picture and demands to know what’s going on. Jasmine confesses that it’s a CD with Steph’s music and they’ve been selling them, with hopes of one day finding Steph’s murderer. Mom is furious and forbids Jasmine from taking this scheme any further. She also forbids her from looking into Steph’s murder. Jasmine goes to her room.